If California wants to be anything other than an ATM for presidential candidates in the future, we need to reform the electoral college, or move the primaries ever earlier, creating an insufferably long general election cycle.

AssemblymenBenoit and Harmon introducedAB 2in 2005. That bill would have given the winner in the general election, of each congressional district, that electoral college vote.The bill never got out of elections committee, no surprise, but we thought it was a great idea. Here is thereasoning behind it:

For many years now, California has not been a major player in Presidential elections. The state is widely viewed as the place to achieve record-setting fundraising so that the election of our President may be decided in "battleground states" several time zones away.It is a slap in the face of California voters that our 55 electoral votes, the largest block in the nation, are given to one candidate without anything more than a token campaign being launched in our state. … Read More

As a person who worked in the automobile business almost all of my adult life, I can’t help but react to Bill Lockyer’s latest high jinks. His lawsuit against the automobile manufactures is one of the most ridiculous abuses of an official office for political gain in an election year that I have ever seen. This suit is completely without merit or precedent, and it is clear that he has only taken this action generate publicity.

Here are few questions I would like Mr. Lockyer to answer regarding how illogical this lawsuit is:

•If the auto industry has caused economic damages to the state of California because of global warming, then what are they and how did he determine the amount he is suing for? •If you can sue the auto companies because they are contributing to global warming, why not sue every company on earth that might be contributing to global warming? •Why not sue every consumer who has ever driven a car in the state of California? •Isn’t this the wrong time to making unsubstantiated attacks against American companies that are going through difficult times… Read More

This afternoon I had the chance to call into a "Bloggers Briefing" being hosted by the House Republican Conference on the issue of Illegal Immigration – more specifically on border security.

The main speakers on the call were three leaders in Congress on the Illegal Immigration issue — House Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri, and two Californians, Dan Lungren and Ed Royce.

Blunt (pictured to the right) opened up the call with an affirmation of the commitment of House Republicans to keep a sharp focus on border security issues. Blunt talked about how last week the House passed a significant measure to build a lengthy stretch of fencing along the border. He also talked about how the House passed legislation to move away from the current "catch and release" border patrol method to a "catch and return" method. He also mentioned legislation to actually make it a federal crime to tunnel beneath our borders, which is not currently… Read More

Right now, there is a discussion taking place in the echelons of the California Republican Party about whether the party’s direct mail and e-mail communications will include the Party’s positions on the various statewide ballot measures. This seems like a common sense thing to do. After all, everyone knows which candidates the party supports since they have their party affiliation next to their names — but the ballot measures are not given a partisan label. To help make it more clear, here is an example of a box that can and should appear on every piece of direct mail from the party, whether the party is mailing on behalf of the Governor and the ticket, legislative races, or any particular measure…

The CRP Board of Directors will meet tomorrow — and I think that they should make the inclusion of this chart a requirement for use of the party for sending out postal mail and e-mail. Understand, I don’t agree with all of the party’s adopted positions — but they are the… Read More

In case you need a reminder that the main stream Democrat establishment is intent on electing Phil Angelides to be Governor of Claifornia, here is your opportunity. A friend of mine (h/t to DS) is actually on the John Kerry e-mail list.

Come November, Phil Angelides can become a member of the John Kerry LOSERS club. LOL.… Read More

Capitol Morning Report, which describes itself as a “daily listing of upcoming events and other news,” reports today that the State Information Officers are holding a conference to discuss their role in the event of a bird flu epidemic in California. The lunch is being catered by….El Pollo Loco – The Crazy Chicken.… Read More

Liberal Democrat Tom Umberg (pictured to the right) is soon to be a retired member of the State Assembly, as his bid to move up to the State Senate was dealt a fatal blow when he did not capture his own Party’s nomination. That said, Tom Umberg is hoping that his legacy as a legislator will be defined by a piece of legislation that he has passed onto the Governor’s desk (with only one GOP vote) that would, if signed, cause California to participate in a scheme to end-run the United States Constitution, and the electoral college that is used to elect the President and Vice President of the United States. Right now, on a state by state basis, depending on who wins a state, each state (by and large in proportion to their population) sends Presidential electors to Washington, D.C. to cast votes on behalf of that state in the Electoral College. We see the physical manifestation of this when we are glued to the television or our computers where we see not only which states go red or… Read More

Insurance Commissioner Candidate Steve Poizner is up in the Central Valley with his new ad, "If you Cruz, You Lose". It is one of the best ads running out there right now. You can take a look at it here.

Cruz Bustamante is a nice person, but he has no business running for Insurance Commissioner. This is a race to watch, and I have not a doubt that Poizer will run a competitive race here.… Read More